Tony and Liliya Heywood successfully took Aurigny to Petty Debts over a lost bag. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0856532)

A BRIDE and groom who sued Aurigny for losing their luggage had been told that they were at fault for packing two bottles of wine.

Tony and Liliya Heywood’s bag contained special clothing and gifts.

The couple, returning from their wedding in Azerbaijan in June, were so outraged by the airline’s attitude that they took it to Guernsey’s Petty Debts Court – and won.

After months of wrangling, the newlyweds were ‘gobsmacked’ the company did not appear in court to defend itself.

Mr Heywood, Specsavers director of IT customer relations, and his new wife, Liliya, who is expecting their first child in the new year, were returning from Azerbaijan on 13 June when their bag went missing between Gatwick and Guernsey.

‘We were having a wedding blessing back in Guernsey and the bag had our clothes for that and some wedding presents,’ he said.

The bottom line was that their bag had been lost and the contents needed to be replaced, he said.

Mr Heywood said he had given Aurigny every opportunity to settle out of court. ‘It’s not about the money, it’s about not letting them get away with it. It’s not fair, so I thought I would let the court decide,’ he said.

An Aurigny spokesman said it was company policy not to talk about individual cases via the media.

‘Aurigny carries approximately 250,000 bags per year using different handling agents in a variety of airports. It is unfortunate, but inevitable, that some will encounter problems reaching their final destination and we try very hard to rectify any problems that occur.’

He said when baggage was lost the airline followed its insurer’s advice.